Identifying what the author believes to be a battle between the priorities of civilian life and the war, the host of the critically acclaimed The Rachel Maddow Show explains that today's focus on national security is actually compromising ...

An excellent review of America and its relationship with the military. The author makes the argument that America has drifted away from its military over the past 60 years due to numerous factors, among them the use of private contractors to assume

An excellent review of America and its relationship with the military. The author makes the argument that America has drifted away from its military over the past 60 years due to numerous factors, among them the use of private contractors to assume many military duties and the failure of America's leadership to put the country on a war footing requiring civilian society to make sacrifices when the country goes to war. With less than 1% of America's population actually serving in the military it has become easy to disassociate itself from the military. Maddow also lays out the historical outline of how the ability to declare/start war(s) have migrated from the Congress (where it should be according to the US Constitution) to the President, thereby making it easier to go to war and almost stay in a continuous war footing without asking sacrifices of its citizens. The last chapter of the book dealing with America's nuclear arsenal is an eye-opener, laying out how the military's nuclear capabilities have degraded over the years, due to numerous factors (no idea when/how to use nuclear weapons, lost engineering capabilities due to many of the original weapons designers retiring/dying, and poor oversight/maintenance of nuclear weapons in the stockpile). Tremendous book for anyone interested in or worried about the future of America and its military.